Farabi puts much emphasis on the society in reaching and...

Farabi puts much emphasis on the society in reaching and leading humans to happiness. The perfection of happiness is only possible through possessing moral virtues; therefore, those whose knowledge does not cause them to be purified, they will not achieve happiness in this world or in the Hereafter. Farabi introduces happiness as the greatest virtue and the most complete aim. He divides the pleasures into two categories: intellectual and sensory.

He believes that the intellectual pleasures are higher than the sensory pleasures. The sensory pleasures make man nearer to animal and object inclinations. The power which helps mankind in differentiating between these two kinds of pleasures is philosophy and logic. - Man can be aware of the real essence of truth and falseness using logic to reach the truth.

Thus, the first stage to reach happiness is acquisition of logic so that man's intellect may reach its peak of perfection (Attanbih Assaadah). Ibn Muskuwaih defines the pleasure as the sensation and comprehension of the desirable thing. He considers the intellectual pleasures as higher than the sensory pleasures and says that many a man has disregarded and dispensed with the sensory pleasures in the way to reach the intellectual pleasures.

He believes that the happiness of every creature is in that the creature attains the aim for which it has been created. lbn Muskuwaih admitted Aristotle's theory concerning man's happiness and stated that man's happiness is in the perfection of both his body and his spirit (soul); thus, the perfection of body or the perfection of the spirit (soul) alone is not sufficient for the happiness of human beings, but man's happiness is possible in this world (Beheshti, Abujafari, & Faghihi, 2000).

Any being is dependent upon the highest aspects of the distinctive acts of that being, when these are considered from the point of view of its completion or perfection. The happiness of man will depend therefore upon the highest aspects of his actions, (Sharma, 2001). Ibn Sina (Avicenna) believed that happiness is divided into two groups: real or true happiness and figurative happiness.

True or real happiness is in obtaining the happiness in the Hereafter, that is to acquire the eternal grace of God and reach to the divine bounties. Achieving to such happiness is the desirable and innate aim of mankind and so it is the best for all of human beings.